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More on Kodak Shift of Focus From Film
Kodak Shifts Focus From Film, Bets Future on Digital Line
Finally Yielding to technology changes that have made its signature product outdated, Eastman Kodak Co. is preparing a big strategic move away from traditional film and plans to bet its future on new digital markets, Thursday’s Wall Street Journal reported.
In a risky move that the company characterizes as a historic shift, Kodak is expected to announce today that it will boost investment in nonphotographic areas and make new forays into digital territory dominated by big, entrenched competitors. It intends to compete head-on with Hewlett-Packard Co., Canon Inc. and Seiko Epson Corp. by launching a line of ink-jet printers for consumers, an effort that could be several years away. Kodak, leveraging an existing joint venture, also plans to expand its product line in the high-end digital- printing market, in a challenge to leaders Xerox Corp. and H-P.
At the same time, the company says it will make no more significant long-term investments in traditional consumer film – nothing, it says, as ambitious as its move to develop the alternative-format Advanced Photo System in 1996.
To hold onto as much of its film franchise as it can, Kodak also will begin actively making private-label film that will be sold under non-Kodak brand names abroad. It also vows to be more aggressive in pursuing market share, a shift from its previous strategy of using its premium brand to keep prices high.
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